Municipal

Poplar Street Pump Station Project renderings

Somerville, MA – The City of Somerville has unveiled preliminary plans for the Poplar Street Pump Station Project, an approach to stormwater management that relieves historical flooding exacerbated by climate change and modernizes operation and maintenance of the city’s new stormwater system.

The city selected global design firm Stantec to engineer the project, which will discharge stormwater from its combined sewer system to a neighboring Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) drainage system built under the Green Line Extension light-rail project. This fundamental shift in stormwater management presents an opportunity for the city to mitigate flooding while improving the public realm with a new public park and destination for urban agriculture and the visual/ performing arts.

Stantec’s Water team is providing engineering services for the planning and design of the facility, with building architecture by William Rawn Associates. The project features a stormwater pump station with capacity for 50 million gallons per day to address typical storm events and an underground storage tank with capacity for up to four million gallons to capture flooding in larger storms. The design also maintains a strategic connection to existing combined sewers to enhance resiliency and water quality.

The project is located on a 2.1-acre parcel planned as the city’s new ArtFarm, which integrates the pump station into a complementary landscape. Stantec’s Community Development team is providing the design of park features, including an urban forest, an amphitheater, rain gardens, green roofs, and spaces for public art, that are interwoven with public education of stormwater management. The team is also supporting the city’s public outreach process and overall site design with the addition of community gardens to the ArtFarm community center under design by others. Next to the parcel, Stantec is designing streetscape improvements, including a new shared street, ADA-compliant sidewalks, traffic calming features, bicycle lanes, and green stormwater infrastructure.

Final design for the Poplar Street Pump Station Project will begin this summer.

Boston – The BPDA board approved the disbursement of $100,000 in grant funding to nine community nonprofit organizations from the Boston Red Sox Fenway Park Demonstration Project Community Benefits at its July board meeting. The community benefits funding is aimed at creating temporary or permanent beautification projects in the neighborhood.

• Boston Arts Academy Foundation, Inc. – $5,000 for students to create a mural on Ipswich Street. • Community Work Services, Inc. – $10,000 to provide job training to underserved Fenway residents while also helping to beautify the Fenway neighborhood. • Emerald Necklace Conservancy, Inc. – $7,500 to help fund improvements to the

Shattuck Visitor Center. • Esplanade Association, Inc. – $6,500 to paint murals to combat graffiti on the

Esplanade. • Fenway Community Development Corporation – $5,000 to beautify a fence and make pavement improvements on

Burbank Street. • Fenway Civic Association – $35,000 for the repair, cleaning, and conservation of the John Boyle O’Reilly monument in the Fens. • Kenmore Association – $9,000 for the design and installation of three new benches on the Kenmore block of the

Commonwealth Avenue mall. • Muddy Water Initiative – $12,000 to fund the operation of the “Water Goat,” a device that helps remove trash and debris from the river. • Operation P.E.A.C.E. – $10,000 to fund the “Together Through Art” project: a public art walk and celebration.

The funds stem from the Fenway Park Demonstration Project, an agreement made with the Boston Red Sox in September 2013 for certain game day and event easements in the area. As part of the agreement, the Red Sox pledged to contribute $100,000 each year for ten years to support beautification efforts in the Fenway.

Boston – The Boston/New England District Council of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) announced the completion of its Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) of the Amesbury Lower Millyard District in Amesbury, Mass. The eight-person panel of land use and development experts observed current conditions and provided insight into potential redevelopment scenarios and placemaking strategies to address connectivity and wayfinding within the district. The panel took place from April 30 to May 4 and was sponsored by MassDevelopment.

In April, the eight panelists toured the district with public officials and members of a recently formed Lower Millyard Task Force and observed thriving businesses along with residents and young families accessing the Riverwalk. In addition, the panel identified vacant buildings and suboptimal uses that detracted from the thriving areas of the district. Following the site tour, panelists interviewed stakeholders to better understand the needs and goals of business owners, community members, and public officials. The panel recently presented its findings and recommendations in a public online meeting.

“In the Lower Millyard District, we saw a popular destination for residents with the potential to become more walkable with enhanced public amenities, greater connectivity to Main Street and the Upper Millyard, and future reuse of select parcels,” said Michael Wang, principal at Form + Place and TAP co-chair. “There is a renewed interest in revitalizing this area by both public leaders and community members, and we’re glad to be assisting in this effort.”

As part of its recommendations, the panel suggested a comprehensive planning process that considers parking, pedestrian circulation, expansion of public parks and green space, and engaging Amesbury landowners to understand their long-term interests. The findings and recommendations will be captured in a written report that will be submitted to the City of Amesbury this summer.